


A Fate Worse than Death

by TechnologicalNoiz



Series: Infiltrator Herald [1]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: Spoilers, This is very very dark, Wishing for death, infiltrator herald, tw: drugged, tw: panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 20:31:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TechnologicalNoiz/pseuds/TechnologicalNoiz
Summary: Infiltrator Herald takes Sidestep back to the Farm.





	1. Chapter 1

You groan, your head lolling to the side. What happened? It’s hard to think. There is this persistent haze over your mind. So familiar. Why can’t you place it? A mild, constant, dull throbbing lurks at the back of your mind. You try to bring your hand up to wipe your face. You can’t. It’s strapped down. Why is this familiar? Why can’t you place the memory? You try to open your eyes. Your eyelids are so heavy. You fade out again. **  
**

_“You know, I was beginning to think you’d never take me up on that dinner offer.” Herald’s, no Daniel’s, smile is nervous. His face flushed. His mind frantically races. He finally gets to go out with the person he has admired for so long! And it’s a date! He can hardly believe this is real. You chuckle. It’s honestly adorable._

* * *

“You are quite the devious little cuckoo. You were so hard to catch the first time. What a happy accident Heartbreak turned out to be.” Footsteps, a hand on your face. Why are your eyes so hard to open? The words don’t make any sense. “When you escaped a second time, the higher ups were livid.” A chuckle, cold and calculated. The voice is familiar. You recognize it from somewhere. But where? It sounds wrong. That voice isn’t supposed to sound cold. “They changed my assignment then. The Rangers were less important than returning you. You are quite valuable you know.” The hand is now petting your head softly. The cold voice doesn’t match the action. The Rangers? What’s going on?

* * *

_The restaurant he takes you to is quiet, private. A place where no one will recognize him. Or you. His nervousness builds. His hands fidget. Why is he so cute?_

_“Why don’t you go get us seats at a table and I’ll go grab us some drinks from the bar? Do you want anything in particular?” His smile is pure, nervous joy. His large blue eyes the picture of innocence._

_“We could just wait for table service?” You suggest._

_His mouth does a cute, quick little frown thing. “It’ll be better this way, trust me. We’ll at least have one drink while we wait.” He laughs, bright and shining. It nearly blinds you. “The food here is great and it’s quiet so we won’t be disturbed, but the service is pretty slow.”_

_“Alright,” You sigh giving him a small smile and a pat on the shoulder. Your hand lingers just a bit too long. “Whatever you’re having is fine.” You go to find a table._

* * *

 

“We thought you might reach out to your old  _friends._ ” A sigh before the icy voice continues. “Little did we know that it would take three years. I was starting to think you weren’t in Los Diablos. You’ve made my mission quite difficult. The first sign we saw that suggested you may be in the city was when you manipulated Argent. Thank you for that. Who knows how long it would have taken to find you otherwise. Only something of your power level could do that. Pointing that idiot Charge in the right direction to find you in that diner was simple after we tracked you down.” The touch stops, the voice hardening. “We won’t underestimate you again. There will be no third escape.” Footsteps. A door shutting. You try to move again. You still can’t. You mind is numb. You can’t feel your body, almost like you are floating.

* * *

_Daniel grins at you as he walks towards the table carrying two brightly coloured drinks. “You said whatever I’m having.” He looks sheepish. “Hope you like fruity and sweet?”_

_You smile softly back at him. “I’m sure it’s more than alright.” He hands you one of the drinks, your hands brushing slightly. He blushes and takes a seat across from you._

_“I still can’t believe this is happening.”_

_“Honestly, neither can I.” You take a sip of your drink. Wow. That really is sweet. What kind of alcohol did they use? Is the after taste supposed to be that bitter?_

_“You know, I’m impressed that you actually managed to land a hit on me the other day.” You smile at him continuing to sip your drink. “You are progressing quite quickly.”_

_“You really think so?” He is absolutely radiant at the compliment. “Thanks! I’ve been working really hard at it.”_

_Your head feels weird. Your eyebrows furrow slightly. “Are you alright?” Daniels voice is full of concern._

_“I’m fine, just a bit of a headache.” The smile you give him is strained._

* * *

It’s so dark. So cold. Why can’t you remember where you are? Why can’t you remember how you got here? You were on a date with Daniel when… When what? Is he alright? Did he get captured too? Captured… Where did that thought come from? Were you captured? You don’t know. You are tired. You just want to sleep.

* * *

_“Oh my god. Is he okay?” The server asks, worry clear in her voice._

_“Yeah, he’ll be fine. I think he just fainted.” Fainted? No. That’s not right. You were drugged. Why can’t he see that? You are lying on the floor of the restaurant, Daniel leaning over you, anxiety clear across his face. “I’ve already called for an ambulance.”_

_No! No hospitals. You scream in your mind. You can’t form words. The world around you already going dark, the edges of your mind hazy. Who drugged you?_

_“It’s me.” Is that Daniel? Why does his voice sound cold, distant? “My mission is complete. The subject has been detained. We are ready for pick up.” Mission? Subject? What the hell is going on? You know the answer to that. You just don’t want to believe it. The rising panic quickly melts before it can fully form as the drugs grasp you tighter. You can’t read his mind. You can no longer feel anything._

* * *

“Ease up on the drugs some. I want to talk to it.”  _It…_

Consciousness comes flooding back to you. You still can’t move. You know where you are. How could you ever forget this place? The Farm. How long has it been, minutes, hours, days, weeks? You have no way of knowing. Your eyes snap open but you do not see. Weakly you struggle against your restraints. Your breath quickens as your lungs tighten. It is hard to breathe. You want to throw up. You want to scream. How could you let this happen?  _No, no, no, no, no…_ You squeeze your eyes shut again, unable to breathe. You try, willing away the tears that stream down your face, willing away the pain in your head. You know it will not stop. The pain never does in this place.

“Shh, shh… It’s going to be okay.” A voice, soothing, familiar, and yet… wrong. A hand on your hair, petting softly. Your eyes fly open again. Herald…

Your world ends…


	2. Chapter 2

_“How do you do that? Be so effortlessly heroic?”_ You feel like an idiot.

 _A small laugh, nervous and sweet. “Is that how I come across? It’s my role I guess.”_ His role… Yes, it was all an act. Herald, _Daniel_ , does not really exist. Not in the way that you and everyone else thought.

How could you be so blind? Why didn’t you notice earlier? This can’t be real. You must be dreaming. But you are not. This doesn’t feel like one of your nightmares. It is much worse. This is reality.

“Daniel…” You croak. Your throat is dry. Your mouth full of cotton. You are so thirsty.

“No,” His lips curl into a cruel smile, his once pure and innocent bright blue eyes are now made of ice. “But you already knew that.” His posture is completely different. There is nothing left of the sweet, heroic person you thought you knew. This is an agent. Someone trained by the Farm specifically to handle telepaths. To handle you. A familiar hate boils in your mind. Hate for the Farm and what they did to you, what they will do to you. Hatred for humans and all of their lies and cruelty.

“Will you at least let me sit up?” You growl at the person, no the agent, who you thought was your friend, who you wanted to be more. The thought makes you feel sick. He never thought of you as a person. Just a thing. A piece of property to return to his boss.

“No. There will be none of that.” It’s a simple statement. There is no emotion in his voice, his smile bland, revealing nothing. “You’ll just have to stay like that through our little talk. If you behaved, well,” he shrugs, “none of this would have happened.” He pulls a chair up to your bedside and sits.

“You are a piece of shit.”

He chuckles at that, crossing his arms. “So venomous. So much hatred. Be careful where you aim that barbed little tongue of yours or I might just take it from you.” You spit at him. He dodges with ease. With one fluid motion he stands, hitting you across the face so hard it makes you dizzy, before sitting again.

“There will be none of that.” His voice is stern.

“Fuck you.” You manage, your mouth filling with blood.

He ignores it. “Now on to business. Your friends, if you can call them that, will come looking for you.” He pauses at the look you give him, full of desperation and pleading.

“Oh you poor little thing. Come on. You don’t think that they actually care for you, do you?”

“Please don’t.” Your voice is barely audible. Your throat tight. You can feel the tears starting to fall, or maybe they never stopped.

“If they actually knew what you were? They would be repulsed. They couldn’t actually care about a Re-Gene like you.” You know what this is. Mental manipulation. Something the Farm excels at. Something you were trained in. But still. Hearing those words out loud, words you have told yourself a million times, causes your strength to drain. The fight in you quickly dwindling to nothing as you are tossed into a pit of despair by someone you foolishly thought actually cared for you. “You are not human after all. You just got confused, thought you were an actual person. But don’t worry. We’ll train that out of you again.”

“No.” You protest weakly. You would rather be dead. Anything is better than this.

“As I was saying. The Rangers will look for you, but only because they don’t know the truth. It would be difficult to fake your death a second time. They will look for me too I suppose, unless I go back into the field. But they won’t find you. And even if they do? It won’t matter. They can be stopped easily enough. The only one that may be an issue is Argent. There is something wrong about her, but I never found out what.”

He continues talking but you don’t hear the words. Your mind is in turmoil. You close your eyes. It is too bright. Your head hurts. You want to scream, but if you start you will never stop. Maybe that doesn’t matter anymore… There won’t be anything left of your already fractured sanity once they are done with you.

“Why?” A soft, broken whisper. That was your voice.

“Why?” He parrots. You open your eyes to look at him. A look of what you assume to be genuine shock crosses his face. “Why what?” Confusion. “Why did I manipulate everyone and pretend to care about you? Well, that’s simple. Because it was my job.”

You don’t want to hear this. You don’t want those words to come out of the mouth of someone you thought you could love. You close your eyes again. Squeezing them tight, willing away the world around you.

“You are tired. I can see that.” You hear the chair scrape against the floor as he stands. “Resume normal dosage.” His footsteps retreat, pausing at the door. “C-07B02, welcome home.” The door opens and shuts.

You are left alone in your prison again. You wish they would just kill you. You know they won’t, not for a long time at least. You have caused them too much trouble. What you have coming will be far worse than death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have smute (smuteczekbiczo.tumblr.com) to thank for coming up with this idea. I just borrowed it to write something sad.  
> There probably won't be a part 3 and if there is it'll be from someone else's pov


End file.
